KT&G launches new Indonesia plant, completes 5-country production network

KT&G has begun full-scale operations at a new cigarette plant in Indonesia, completing a five-country global production network spanning Korea, Indonesia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. KT&G said Wednesday that it held an opening ceremony for the plant in Pasuruan, East Java, on Monday Indonesia is one of the world's major tobacco markets and a key export hub in the Asia-Pacific region. KT&G entered the market in 2011 by acquiring a local company. It has since introduced Esse and Juara, its leading brands in Indonesia. The company ranks fourth in the country's cigarette market. KT&G built the plant to meet growing demand. It signed an agreement with Indonesia's Ministry of Investment and the Investment Coordinating Board in September 2023, began construction in April 2024 and started trial operations in the first half of 2026. Once all nine production lines are installed, the plant will have an annual capacity of up to 21 billion cigarettes. Combined with the existing plant's 14 billion-cigarette capacity, KT&G's total capacity in Indonesia will reach 35 billion cigarettes a year, making